Take Two
by MariaWest
Summary: Wally sometimes runs his mouth a bit too quickly. It's his two year anniversary with Artemis and he managed to cause the biggest fight the couple has ever had. So, as New Year's Eve approaches, Wally begins to wonder if he's going to be able to work things out in time


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Young Justice or any of its characters.

**Author's Note:** Originally this was going to be a quick drabble, but I noticed when I hit 2000 words and Wally and Artemis hadn't spoken to each other yet that this was going to be much more than a drabble. Whoops. Anyway, I'm really proud of this fic, I worked on it about a week, I think. It was a lot of fun to write. I wanted to have Conner, Kaldur, and Raquel actually talking in it, but it just wouldn't have worked. I barely got M'gann in. Also… the number of times this had been edited it ridiculous. I'm posting it now mostly because if I don't stop editing it, it'll never make it up.

* * *

Wally takes a deep breath in while looking at the zeta tube. He had been standing in front of it for at least twenty minutes now, which feels like an eternity for the speedster. He knows he needs to step in and face the music (which he is sure there will be tons of, knowing M'gann and her party planning), but something is keeping him rooted where he is standing. His clutch on the plastic bag, full of presents to be handed out soon, in his hand tightens. He rubs his other hand threw his hair before shaking the red locks out. He hand falls to his jacket's pocket and feels the small box resting in it. His hand clenches around it and he sighs. He feels stupid bringing it, but felt stranger about leaving it behind.

_You can do this. You can do this. You can do this._ He keeps this repeating in his head. He knows this is not anything new, to be frank. He is in situations like this all the time and they always work out. But this time… this time he feels like that there is actually a problem and that a quick chat, a cheesy line, and a quick kiss will not solve it. He begins to pace in front of the tube, though his pacing is more like sprinting back and forth. After a few seconds, Wally stops and sighs.

He knows nothing will get better if he keeps standing there. And he wants to make things better. But for tonight, he decides that he just wants to pretend it is not happening. Tonight was too important to be fixated on this problem. He just wants to spend time with his friends and the girl of his dream and pretend everything is peachy.

Taking another deep breath in, he types in the code for the Cave and walks into the tube. He stands there waiting for what feels like forever, though, again, a second feels like a long time to the boy who can almost break the sound barrier in his sneakers. He looks down at them and sighs. He knows he should have dressed better for the occasion but, considering recent events, he could not care less.

Then, in the blink of a slower eye, Wally is stepping out of the tube and is greeted with a loud cheer from his best friend. Dick was just walking into the room as Wally reaches the middle of it. The red head smiles and waves, hand falling back to his hair to try and fix it. Of course Dick looks amazing for the party. Suddenly, the clothes Wally is wearing seem even worse than from before coming here.

"About time you got here, KF. We were wondering what was keeping you. Artemis has been here for an hour now," Dick says somewhat dramatically, draping his arm around his friend's shoulders. Wally looks over to his friend making a face, finding it strange that Dick was now the same height as him. The two boys look at each other; Wally's gaze tells his friend to drop the act, "Okay, okay, I was just going to pretend I didn't already know so you could tell me. Though, it's pretty obvious. Artemis and you always show up together for parties."

"Look, I don't want to talk about it," Wally replies, shrugging the arm off, "It's really bringing me down and this is supposed to be a party. Let's just ignore it until tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" he asks the red haired boy as they begin to walk to where the rest of the team is. They walk in silence. In the distance Wally can hear the faint sound of music and chatter. While trying to make out the song that is playing, he notices that Dick is taking them on the longer root to the party. Wally gives his friend a questioning look, but only see a very innocent look on his face. Dick looks back at him and his face drops, "Wally, come on, you can't avoid this! This is kind of a big deal. And tonight is your anniversary with her! And have the two of you ever fought this bad before? I was talking to her earlier and she says you two haven't seen each in a week. That's ridiculous! Come on, you have to talk about this!"

"Dick, seriously just stop!" Wally shouts, stopping to turn to his friend. The younger boy glares at him in response, not reacting at all to the shouting. Wally hates yelling at Dick. They are best friends, they are not supposed to be angry at each other ever, but sometimes Wally cannot stand Dick's prying, "I get that it's a big deal. Trust me, I'm the one who has to deal with it. But I don't want to focus on it right now. Like you said, it's my anniversary with Artemis come midnight and I would like to pretend that things were okay for it. What if we talk about it and things blow up and don't work out? I don't want us to fall apart before we make it to two years, okay? So drop it, I know what I'm doing."

Dick's glare begins to soften and he sighs. "Fine," he says, "but you're being pretty stupid about this from someone who's supposed to be somewhat smart. Pretending it isn't happening won't make tonight better, it's going to make it that much worse. And thinking about the 'what ifs' isn't going to help. You and Artemis care too much about each other to let this actually hurt anything. But come on, M'gann has made a whole table of food just for you."

"Score!" Wally says, already putting the conversation just had in the back of his mind. The two boys walk into the sitting room/kitchen and are greeted with more cheers. Wally smiles and bows to everyone, "The Wall-man has finally arrived. The party may begin accordingly!"

Dick elbows him in the ribs and grins. Wally's smile widens and he looks up. Sure as Dick said, there's a table with a sign saying: '_Wally, you can only eat from this table. Please leave the other alone, we get hungry too_'. The table is filled with all his favourites and more.

"M'gann, you are a star," he announces, walking over to the other ginger of their team. She smiles up at him and gives him a hug. It's a short hug, and Wally is quickly looking at his table again.

"Oh, Wally, you're sweet," she says, looking up at him, "now go eat it, but please, not all at once. I made food for everyone and I don't want them to feel sick watching you. Also, pacing yourself is a good idea… though I have yet to see it happen."

"Always looking out for us. I'll try and be polite," he replies, starting to look at her again before turning to glare at a snorting Dick behind him. Dick raises his hands in surrender and walks over to Kaldur, Raquel, and Zatanna, most likely so they can all laugh at the speedster's expense.

M'gann is now walking over to Conner, so Wally makes his way over to his heavenly table, after placing his bag of presents with the small pile on the coffee table. He grabs a plate and begins to fill it up with as much food as it can hold.

"So," a voice says behind him. It makes him jump and almost drop his plate, "what's wrong between you and Artemis?"

Wally turns to the person and sighs. Of course, it's Zatanna. He knows Dick probable sent her over to try and make him open up. He shots a glare over that Dick, who is innocently in the middle over a conversation with Raquel. "You need to stop spending so much time with Grayson. You're starting to sneak up on people too much," he says, somewhat bitterly.

"Roop ybab," she says, patting his shoulder, "You're just jealous you never picked up the skill from him."

Wally just glares at her and continues to add to his plate. Half goes to the plate, half to his mouth. He swallows after a few mouthfuls and looks back at Zatanna, "So, aren't you going to pester me more? Dick already has."

"Oh, I am, but I was hoping you would just straight out answer me," she says, taking a piece of cheese off his plate, "Are you going to answer me or am I'm going to have to pry?"

Wally sighs and puts his plate down, "Look, it's nothing big. We're just having a bit of a fight, we'll move on from it."

"Seriously, you expect me to believe that?" the girl asks. She cocks an eyebrow at him before stealing another piece of cheese, "I mean, come on, Artemis and I have already talked about this. Obviously I know you're lying."

"Then why are you asking me in the first place?" Wally exclaims. He glances around, in case _someone_ might have heard, but gladly sees no one is paying attention to Zatanna and him, "Zee, seriously, why are you bothering me about this?"

"Um, because we're friends and I want to hear your side. Why, do you want me to just take Artemis' side and call you the devil with her?"

"She's called me the devil?"

"Not the point," she replies, waving the question away. "Look, tell me or I'll magic it out of you."

Wally snorts, "As if. You'd never be that mean."

"Yrt em," she says calmly, eyeing him.

Wally sighs, not wanting to press his luck. Though he is not easily convinced about what magic can do still, he has seen Zatanna do some scary things, "Look, it's just a dumb argument about college, okay? Artemis and I are having a disagreement about where we're both applying. It's bound to happen, it's a stressful time. I mean she's already annoyed I'm taking a year off so we'd be in the same year."

"Wally," she starts, but he cuts her off.

"That's it, Zee. We'll work it out, we always do. So please, let it go," he says while picking up his plate. He gives her one last look before walking away to go find someone to talk to who doesn't know everything happening in his life already.

"I wish Red Tornado was here… He wouldn't be bugging me about this crap…" the red head mutters under his breath.

"Bugging you about what crap, exactly?" says a cool voice in front of him. He gulps and knows it's the voice he was definitely trying to avoid.

He stops dead in his tracks and looks up. In front of him stands a tall, though not as tall as him anymore, blond whose hands are on her hip and her lips tight. He gulps and puts another hand on his plate to keep from dropping it from his now shaking hands. Artemis raises an eyebrow at him; her mouth not forming the normal smile she makes when she sees him. Her eyes are colder than they normal are, but there is still a bright fire in them.

"Um… about my eating, you know, how it grosses everyone out," he lies quickly and immediately regrets it. Artemis' eyes tell it all after the lie is out. There is shock and disappointment. Wally never lies to her, and she never lies. It was their unspoken agreement over the last two years and he just broke it.

Her eyes glance behind him to Zatanna, who is still at his table, and back to him. "Right… Well it is disgusting watching you eat," she says back, rather harshly. She walks by him, bumping it his shoulder as she passes him. Wally takes it, knowing he deserves it completely.

He turns and watches her walk over to Zatanna. After she reaches the dark haired girl, Zatanna gasps and looks over at Wally. He quickly looks away and walks to the counter in behind all the couches. He does not want to watch Artemis rip him apart to Zatanna, even if he deserves it. He places his plate on the counter and sighs. Looking around the room, he can see how happy everyone is. M'gann and Conner are laughing together as M'gann pours him some fruit punch, though he notices the Martian glancing over to Zatanna and Artemis frequently. Dick and Kaldur are chatting, about what he cannot tell. Raquel is grabbing herself a plate of food, chuckling to herself. He looks back at Zatanna and Artemis and frowns slightly to see that they are laughing and eating his food. He wants to run over and stop them, but he shakes his head.

He quickly runs out of the room, living his plate on the counter.

It feels like hours to Wally before he hears someone walk into the old 'therapy room' as they like to call it, though it is probably just one of the many office spaces they could never quite figure out. Wally glances over his shoulder to see Dick walking through the door. Wally turns his head back to the wall he was staring at. His feet are hanging from the table he is sitting on. He brings his knees up to his chest and hugs them.

"You left your food on the counter, I think the team thinks you've died or something. M'gann made me go find you when she saw the plate, or mountain really," Dick says, walking towards Wally.

"I'm not hungry," Wally answers, propping his chin on his knees.

"Which is why I'm on looking for you duty," he exclaims, sitting next to his friend on the table. Dick leans back, placing his arms behind him. The two boys sit quietly next to each other before he talks again, "So, what did you do?"

"Why do you automatically assume it was me?" Wally asks, turning to glare at his friend.

"Cause I was watching you and Artemis talking, or should I say barely talking, earlier, and you looked like you wanted to punch yourself. So, being the great detective I am," Wally's groan cuts the younger boy off. Dick elbows him before continuing, "I realized that you said something really stupid and are now on a long road of self hating."

"You're annoying, you know that?" Wally grumbles at his friend while elbowing him back. Dick chuckles and he cannot help but smile a bit. They sit in silence. Wally turns his vision back to the wall and sighs, "I lied to Artemis."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They sit in silence again. Wally drops his legs and leans back at the same time. He turns his head back and looks at the chairs on the other side of the room. "You know, last time I was in here was two years ago, after the simulation."

"Really? Man… I think I'm on the same boat," Dick says, looking passed his shoulder to the chairs as well.

"It's funny, cause I was so in denial about what had happened and about how I felt about Artemis and how confused I was around her. It's weird how far I've come only to end up in this room again feeling the same things," Wally says, in barely more than a whisper, "I feel like I've really messed it up with her."

"Wally, what happened? I mean I know you two fought and it was about school and that it was really bad, but what really happened?" Dick asks, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Wally does not answer right away. He is not sure where to being. Does he start with the fact he took a year off and that he yelled at the girl he was madly in love with? Does he start with the fact that he was giving up what should feel like a fortune for her but it does not? Should he start with the fact he really hurt Artemis?

"Well… school led to the problem more than is the problem," he says slowly, looking down, "I'm really not okay with what I did. I'm definitely the worst person in the world. So, you know how I had that scholarship offer to Harvard? Well, I'm planning on turning it down so I could go to Stanford cause I know that's where Artemis has her heart set."

Dick nods. Wally knows he knows this already, the two boys have basically told each other, or snuck around and found out about each other, everything. Wally takes a breath and continues.

"So, we started arguing about my decision. Artemis is annoyed that I'm throwing away the money for her, and I kept trying to tell her it does not mean anything to me. I didn't want to be so far away from her for so long. She kept insisting to take the scholarship and to go to Harvard and I… well… I sort of snapped."

"Oh…" Dick says softly, as if knowing what Wally is about to say, which Wally would not doubt.

"So… I told her that I was sorry she was afraid of love, afraid that when love is right in front of her that she pushes it away, and that… I was sorry her family messed her up and skewed her ideas of love…" Wally explains, hanging his head. He hates saying this out loud but it feels like a weight it lifted of his chest. He knows telling Dick will not fix anything, but it is nice knowing that he has someone who will not judge him no matter how badly he messes up.

Dick sits there, watching his friend. He does not say anything, which Wally is grateful for. If he were to say something, Wally knows he would not be able to continue now that he is going.

"I didn't even know what I was saying until it was too late. Dick… you should have seen her face. I hurt her. I actually hurt her. I never wanted to do that. And she just calmly grabbed her things and left, but not fast enough for me to not hear her starting to cry. Dick, I made Artemis cry. I never want to do that to her. I'm supposed to comfort her when she cries, not make her. And the worst thing… I ruined telling her that I love her. I basically used my love as a weapon against her and now I've ruined telling her how much she means to me. She's my world and _I'm_ the one that pushed her away," he finishes. He stands up after finishing. He needs to get away from his friend; he can feel tears in his own eyes and does not want that to be seen. He faces away from him and covers his eyes with a hand.

Dick sits quietly, waiting for Wally to get himself back under control. When the ginger turns around again, he is smiling weakly and says, "I sound like a love sick twelve year old."

Dick responds by starting to laugh. Slowly, the red head joins in until neither boy can breath properly.

Finally, they both begin to calm down, and Dick manages to say, "You and Artemis are the most ridiculous pair. How have you two actually made it this far?"

"What do you mean?" Wally asks, finally getting his laugh completely under control.

"If you had just called her up by now and told her what you just told me, you guys would be okay now. So just tell her that and it'll be okay. And, you know, add in that you're sorry. Actually, you'll probably want to just straight out say that first."

"Yeah, you're right," Wally replies.

"And," Dick says, sliding off the table gracefully, "I would suggest that tonight, yes tonight, you tell her all of this and give her that ring in your pocket. It would be a very good idea to go through with."

"Wait, how did you know about that? I didn't tell anyone!" Wally exclaims

"Really, Wally? You're asking me how I know something?"

"I hate you so much," he said, punching the younger boy in the arm.

"I know, but you'd be screwed without me. Come on, M'gann wants to do present now," he says, walking towards the door. Wally sighs and shoves his hands in his jacket's pockets, his fingers rubbing against the small box as he follows his friend out of the room.

Presents go over smoothly until he has to hand his out. He grabs his bag and looks around at the group, grinning. His eyes slide over his friends, resting on Artemis. She is sitting with her legs crossed and her head is facing away from him, towards the ground. His smile wavering, Wally sighs and begins passing out his presents. They are action figures of themselves that he found in a toyshop near his house. Everyone starts to shower Wally with thanks, all finding the presents adorable. He gets to Artemis and slowly had her the mini version of herself.

"Here," he says slowly, arm stretching out towards her.

She looks up at him and then at the toy. She takes it slowly and her eyes soften slightly. "Thanks," she whispers, place the toy down beside her before looking away again. Wally feels his shoulders fall as he moves to continue handing out his presents.

Then it is her turn and Wally tenses. He has no idea what she got him. He remembers bugging her to tell him, but that was before he made a screwed up everything. Slowly, she hands out small boxes to everyone. When she gets to him, she drops it quickly in his lap and moves on. He watches her finish heading the gifts out before looking at the box. He slowly takes the lid off and finds a pin with Stanford's crest on it. He looks up quickly at her but she is looking down at the toy version of herself, completely avoiding his gaze. Swallowing, he places the pin back in the box and looks away from her.

Finally, all the presents are handed out and M'gann is talking about setting up the TV in time for the countdown. Artemis stands up as the 'No Signal' disappears and is replaced with an actual image and walks to the other side of the room, leaving her toy self on the counter on her way over. Wally slowly follows suit, placing the box on the counter as well. He joins her by the wall, look at the back of her head. She does not turn to look at him but he can see the tension in her body.

They are standing together, neither one saying anything, neither one knowing what to say to end the silence. Wally begins to lift his hand towards Artemis but changes his mind half way and moves it through his hair.

"Hey… Thanks for the button… It means a lot…" Wally says awkwardly, unable say more.

"It was nothing… I just saw it at the knick knack store in the mall yesterday and thought of you… It was stupid, really," she replies; keep her face away from his gaze. "I should have just gotten you food or something. You probably won't need the pin now anyway."

"Why would you say that?" he asks. When she does not respond, Wally grabs her shoulder and turning her to face him, "Artemis, why would you say that?"

"Well, why would you want to go to Stanford anymore?" she asks, her eyes finally meeting his. Their gaze is piercing and demanding, holding his gaze so that even if he wanted to look away, he would not be able to. But he did not want to.

"Artemis…" he starts, trying to find where to start and what to say.

"I want an answer. Why would you want to go to Stanford now if all that's going to happen is I push you away?" Artemis demands. "Why would you give up all the money to just regret the next four years of your life?"

Wally stands there, taking in her words. What could he say to make her realize how much she meant to him? How could he not ruining this even more? Then he remembers what Dick told him. "Artemis, I'm sorry. I was a complete ass to you and I'm sorry. You were never pushing me away. You were just trying to make sure I didn't make a mistake; you were just looking out for me. I was the one pushing you away."

"Wally, please… don't li-," she begins to say but he does not let her finish. He grabs her hands and squeezes them.

"No, I'm not done. I was pushing you away because I was scared. Artemis, you freak me out. The fact your life and family before I met you should have messed you up and left you broken, but look at you. It didn't. You're ridiculous strong and it scares me because I'm not as strong as you. It scares me that I'm a mess almost all of the time. It scares me that you want me, because what if you realize how awful I am? You're not a mess; you're so far from it. Your family helped make you who you are and I wouldn't want it any other way. Artemis, you're perfect how you are," he says, slowly and carefully, one of the rare moments he actually takes his time. He wants her to hear every word he's saying. Her eyes continue to hold his, though there were tears starting to form in them. Wally swallows and continues, "You aren't running from anything, you aren't afraid of anything. You're not messed up. I am though, when you aren't with me. I make mistakes and I say the wrong things. But that's not why I want to go to school with you. I need to, because you make me whole. You make me a better person and you make me want to be a better person. And I'm sorry I said all that. I'm sorry I pushed you away. I'm so sorry I hurt you."

Artemis continues to look at him. She quickly removes her hands from his and wipes her eyes. Her eyes seem to be searching for something in his. He cannot figure it out, but whatever it is, she seems to find it. One minute she's standing away from him as much as she could in his grip, the next she is pressing herself against him, her lips pressing against his. Her hand snakes up his arm and neck, resting on the back of his head. Wally grabs hold of her waist, pull her even closer to him, deepening the kiss. They kiss for a few minutes, neither one wanting to end the touches they had been longing to have for days.

They pull away from each, though their foreheads continue to touch. They look into each other's eyes and smile.

"I missed you," Wally whispers.

"I missed you too," she whispers back, her smile growing. She moves her head away and her smile turns into a smirk.

"What?" Wally asks suspiciously. He knows that smirk and knows to be very wary of what follows it.

"So… When you made a complete and utter ass out of yourself last week, you were saying something about me being afraid of love that was right in front of me, or something, right?" she asks. She races an eyebrow at him and waits.

"Oh… right… that," Wally says and coughs. He looks away and can feel his hands getting sweaty on Artemis' waist. "Well… um… you see… Right, okay… so…"

"Stop! I'm just teasing you! Please don't pull a muscle trying to say it!" Artemis laughs. She grins and gives him a quick kiss. "I know what you want to say."

She lets go of the back of his head and moves out of his hands. Wally wipes he hands on his pants and smiles back at her. She pats his cheek and starts to walk pass him. Quickly his hand reaches out and grabs her wrist. "Wait."

She turns back to him with a quizzical look on her face. Wally quickly lets go of her wrist and shoves his hand in his jacket pocket. He slowly pulls out the small box and hands it to her. Her eyes widen in shock and darts between his eyes and the box.

"Wally… what… what is this?" she demands him, fear creeping into her voice.

He quickly realizes what it looks like and starts to laugh. "Oh man, Artemis, I'm sorry! Relax, it's nothing big or anything. It's not a promise or engagement right, I swear! I'm sorry!" he says while still laughing.

Artemis eyes him before taking the box. She opens it and gasps a little and smiles. She slowly picks up a thin, bronze, ring. It is an arrow. She hands it to him and he smiles. He takes it and then slides it onto one of her fingers. She lifts her hand to inspect the finger with the arrow wrapped around it now.

"I saw it a few months ago and, obviously, thought of you. I thought it would be a good anniversary present," Wally explains.

"I love it," she says, smiling at him.

"HAPPY NEW YEARS!"

Both Artemis and Wally jump and look around to the rest of the team. M'gann and Conner begin to kiss. Zatanna looks at Dick sheepishly before turning to Kaldur and giving him a quick kiss. Kaldur's eyes open widely and both Dick and Raquel begin to roar with laughter. Artemis turns to Wally and smiles.

"Happy anniversary, Wall-man," she says. She leans towards him, titling her head up slightly. His head moves to meet her and they kiss again.

After the kiss, Wally pulls her into a hug, smiling next to her ear.

"Hey, babe?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. Happy anniversary."

There is a brief moment of silence before she says, "I love you, too."

Wally tightens the hug, realizing how stupid he was for almost losing this. They stand together, not wanting the world to disturb them. Unfortunately, Dick Grayson wasn't the world.

"If you two are done over there, I have some very nice, and extremely expensive champagne I would love to share with the two of you. Also, Wally, please take your jacket off already, you look like an idiot."

Wally and Artemis end their hug, both swearing that they'll find a way to make that boy pay one day. Artemis unzips Wally's jacket as he waggles his eyebrows at her. She laughs and helps him take it off.

After tossing it to the counter, ignoring M'gann's protest, Wally takes Artemis' hand and the two walk over to their friends, smiling.


End file.
